Quite a lengthy read, but this is a Public Service Announcement. I messaged the organizers because Party Like It Never Happened seemed so weird and ridiculous, I had to ask them directly. Conversation is truncated BUT NOT edited at all. Conversation is with Calai Cinco, lead organizer, and who I dont know at all. Thoughts? (PS: Appreciate the time Ms. Cinco gave me). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elsa Thomasma: I have added my co-organizer Carla Cinco, who I think would be the more appropriate person for you to address your questions too. We are more than happy to share information about our event. Thanks! • Calai Cinco happy to be of service you would like to know more about our event? Q: Hi, both, thank you for accommodating this. First question: everyone wants to know, who are the organizers? Are you affiliated with a certain company? A: no, the organizers are a group of friends, although some of us work for one company, others are not affiliated with the company Q: Second question: a lot of hate is centered on the premise of party like it never happened. It has come off as insensitive to many, particularly those who have not moved on. Anything you want to say about how the idea came about? A: when we were brainstorming about the tagline we really were just thinking about things that would make people feel positive despite everything that has happened. as you know, after the typhoon, with everything destroyed and everyone just thinking that itll be maybe 5 years before the stores come back and there were even people that tacloban might not be able to get back to be the city that it was once was but now the mall, stores, restaurants, bars have opened and theres even a lot more establishments now than before, so for us, tacloban has been able to get up and fight through the storm and the aftermath even the no-relief efforts that the national govt has shown us . So we want everyone to know that Tacloban can still party like before but we added the tagline Remember because it did because we didnt want also to forget the tragedy that befell us Q: So the party like it never happened is in reference to, party like all those worries and fears of tacloban not rising again should be put to rest? Dont wanna put words in your mouth, just want to clarify. Because Tacloban IS rising again. A: yes most definitely and we are very happy that it is, that is why we think that tacloban should also be celebrating against all odds we were able to fight back. Q: Are you all Warays in the group? A: Yes we are all Warays, even the foreigners. They have been living here for more than 2 years and were also here during the storm Q: Okay,after all the negativity, did you think of altering the tag line so as not to offend those who took offense? A: we were thinking of changing the tagline for a while but i really believe in what we are doing and it is all for the community and its already on the tarps and posters anyway, haha, so i guess its too late even if we wanted to. Jonathan and elsa our foreigner friends have raised a lot of funds already actually for yolanda victims after the typhoon they have both been featured in the media locally and in the US Q: What do they say about the feedback re this event? Im sure they werent counting on the backlash. A: haha actually all of us didnt expect that much negativity and they are bothered with the backlash but the waray organizers are much more positive about it so we just continue to encourage them. actually weve only been planning about this event for a few months. we were just talking one day about doing an event for everyone in tac, and jonathan said we should do a benefit event so that we can at least unify everyone into helping the community, since we know that most of the iNGOs wont be here forever and tacloban will have to stand on its own and taclobanons should be helping each other and not rely too much for help outside Q: Pls tell me more about the shirts. Thats another matter for contention for many. Why Eat, Pray, Loot? A: thats a really good question, thanks for asking that ive been wanting to respond to some of the comments about that on fb but i just didnt want it to be a long discussion. Haha. well its actually my favorite shirt. Its more like The only way you could eat after the storm was if you prayed and looted, which is like saying that those were the things people did to survive It expresses survival after the disaster, thanks to the speed of the relief we got from the national government. sorry that sounded like a political statement haha Q: And the humor fell flat, obviously, sorry. Offense comes from people not wanting to be associated with looting. Does this bother you? Will you stop production? How many shirts have you sold so far? A: weve sold a lot of shirts so far and we are still receiving orders for that shirt i mean some people dont like i understand but some people do get the joke Q: Just to clear Because I also took offense but also want to know if there was another side to the story A: and we appreciate that a lot, and we welcome anyone who wants to ask theyre all limited shirts actually we have a contract with saito so whatever weve ordered, that was it Q: Who thought up of the other shirt memes though? the one with we Dont die, we eat puday? Ive seen it as graffiti, just wanted to know what your reasons may be for including it A: but to tell you the truth, i am very happy that some people do get the joke because that is one of the shirts that is popular it is not actually being sold that was just a misunderstanding we did print a couple though, more of an insiders joke because that was spray painted at talipapa right? Q: Oh, really? How many designs are being sold? Personally, do you guys get grief from your parents re staging of event? As we all know, the older ones may be more sensitive A: there are actually 4 designs actually our parents are all very supportive. ive actually talked to my parents about the backlash Q: Do they know you guys are getting hate on social media A: i was doubting myself for a bit so i told them, but they were very supportive. they told me that is actually just normal reaction for other people but people who understand the event and see the intentions and the positivity of the event will surely support us and they are one of those people so that made me happy Q: Did any of the organizers lose anyone during the storm, sorry this is a question I have to ask A: i personally have i lost my lola she was trapped in her room because they live in san jose the rest of us have lost friends Q: Im sorry to hear that. The reason I asked is me, for example, we thought, maybe it would be easy to celebrate because you didnt lose anyone • A: i see i dont think we would have gone through with the event if we didnt have support of people whom we are close to and have lost loved ones like if someone i knew told me back then when we were planning the event, that we were just being stupid, i wouldnt have done it but a lot of people we know who have lost loved ones and one of the organizers friend had lost all her family everyone literally but she bought a shirt and said she is going to the event • Q: I appreciate you sharing, and I apologize for the presumption. Many words have been flying back and forth, and it would be natural for people to think, maybe its so easy for you to celebrate, if you didnt lose anyone. For everyone curious: What exactly is going to happen at the event? Because everyone thinks its going to be such a huge party, so there may be overblown ideas you might want to counter A: hahaha right we are actually going to post the program on the event page later but just to let you know, there will be a photo booth where we prepared signboards where people can thank, remember or pray for someone and the photos will be on social media Q: Is it an inuman--walwalan session? Or because you have DJs, a dance all night marathon? Is there a special program when the clock strikes 12? A: and we hope that our gratitude for those who helped us after the typhoon like the ngos and other countries will be expressed through that more of a dance marathon food, drinks and dance fun Q Last question, sorry for taking up your time. who will be the beneficiaries of your event? A volunteer for the visayans is the NGO but it is going to their educational scholarship program we chose educational scholarships because everyone else is doing the construction, community centers, relief etc and we believe this will be a more sustainable program for the future of Yolanda survivors Q: 100 percent of proceeds will go to them? Can you tell us a little about Volunteer for the Visayans? What would be their mission/vision? Who will they extend help to? A: yes, 100 percent of the proceeds will go to Volunteer for the Visayans they actually have a website its visayans.org/ they have a lot of projects here in tacloban and outside tacloban actually their name org says it all, they help the visayan community No problem about the interview, i was glad somebody actually took the time to find out where our event was coming from Q: Thank you too for accommodating. Is there anything you wish to add? I would be sharing what you told me on FB, but may also write about this for a paper A: ok sure but nothing to add i just hope that everyone understands our intentions we really are trying to help the community i hope i changed your mind about us too Q: Honestly, I would say that I understand you better, that now I know you did not mean any harm, but Id also like to say in my opinion, that there was a better way to do this, or to rephrase the words or to have practiced more sensitivity so as not to ruffle feathers. Sadly, the end doesnt always justify the means, and good intent is not always executed the way we want it to. So Im sorry for your troubles also. Also, Im not in any position to dictate A: yes i understand that too, weve now experienced the backlash because of that but we are just hoping for the success of the event and that with this we were able to help our community in our own way ------------------------------------ END------------------------------------------------------------- Fellow Warays, what do you think?
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 13:08:47 +0000
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